Sanctuary
by Sinister Slayer
Summary: This is a one shot alternate ending to the episode Sanctuary from the first season of Angel. Femslash BF.
1. Part One

Summary: This is a one shot alternate ending to the episode Sanctuary from the first season of Angel. For those of you who aren't complete geeks like me and don't have the names of every single episode of Buffy and Angel memorized, this is the episode where Faith decides that she wants to change and ultimately turns herself in to the police. It starts just as Buffy is going up to the roof to catch Faith. I'm posting this story in both the Ats and Btvs sections because although it's technically from Angel my version is Buffy and Faith centric who are both originally from Btvs. It starts just as Buffy goes up to the roof to catch Faith when the watcher's counsel guys show up. That's pretty much all I'm going to say because although I know a good summary is what brings in the readers…I hate to give away the whole plot and all that jazz so just give it a read and see how you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters for _Buffy The Vampire Slayer_ or _Angel The Series_. They are property of Joss Whedon and the rest of the gang from Mutant Enemy. Also some of the beginning dialog is taken directly from the episode Sanctuary.

Feedback: Always always always welcome! I love to know what people think even if you don't like it so feel free to review please!

A/N: Even though this is a one shot I'm splitting it up into two parts because it's nearly 7,000 words and I thought it would just be too long to post as one individual chapter. So I'm posting part one now and then I'll leave you guys in anticipation for a little while and then I'll post the second part lol. Anyway I hope you all enjoy the story!

**Sanctuary**

Part One:

When Buffy reached the roof she spotted Faith almost instantly. The dark haired slayer was looking out at the city silently. For a short moment Buffy just stood there behind her. "You're not gonna run, Faith," she said with determination.

Faith closed her eyes at the sound of Buffy's voice, but she didn't move, she didn't try and run. "What do you wanna do? You're gonna throw me off the roof?" she asked, and then after a small pause she added with a roll of her eyes, "Again?"

The blonde slayer slowly walked a little closer to the other slayer. "Any reason why I shouldn't?"

The younger slayer turned around to face Buffy with a look of defeat. "There is nothing I can do for you, B," she stated clearly. "I can't ever make it right."

Buffy continued to slowly walk towards Faith with an angry look apparent on her face. "So you're just going to take off again. Leave us to clean up yet another one of your messes," she said with frustration.

Now Faith too began to slowly walk towards Buffy. "It would make things easier for you."

"Till you got bored with the whole guilt thing," Buffy countered. "Decided to come back to shake things up?"

"That's not gonna happen," the younger slayer insisted.

Both slayers were now pretty much face to face at this point. Buffy's face was still fixed with rage. "You're right," she responded. "It's not."

Faith turned away and slightly shook her head. "Angel said there was no way you were gonna give me a chance."

"I gave you every chance!" Buffy insisted enthusiastically. "I tried so hard to help you, and you spat on me." She paused for a moment to let that sink in. "My life was just something for you to play with. Angel…Riley…anything that you could take from me…you took." Faith looked back at the older slayer with guilt in her eyes as she waited for her to continue. "I've lost battles before…but nobody else has _ever_ made me a victim."

The younger girl took a moment to think about what she'd just heard. Then she responded sincerely, "And you can't stand that." Her emotions began to rise as she continued. "You're all about control. You have no idea what it's like on the other side! Where nothing's in control, nothing makes sense! There is just pain and hate and nothing you do means anything. You can't even…"

"Shut up!" Buffy interrupted heatedly.

For a moment the two slayers just stood there and looked at each other. Then Faith looked deep into Buffy's eyes and pleaded, "Just tell me how to make it better."

To this, Buffy was speechless. She wasn't exactly sure how to respond. Faith actually looked like she was completely serious. She looked as if she truthfully wanted to make things better and that was something the older slayer was not expecting.

Before Buffy could find words to respond, Faith continued. "Please Buffy, just tell me what to do. I know how much I hurt you. You were the only person who ever really tried to be my friend. You were the only person who ever actually wanted to help me. And instead of embracing that I pushed you away. I made it a point to hurt the one person I lo…" She stopped herself from finishing.

A confused look appeared on Buffy's face as she tried to figure out what the rouge slayer was about to say. She had an idea of what it sounded like it could have been but there was no possible way that could be it. Before she had the chance to think on it further Faith continued.

"I know you don't wanna hear it, B," Faith continued. "But I really am sorry."

Before Buffy could respond she heard the sound of a helicopter in the distance. Faith's eyes immediately shot to the sky. She heard it too. "We need to get out of here," Buffy insisted.

Faith looked at her with confusion. "What?" She couldn't figure out why Buffy seemed to be trying to help her.

"You heard me," Buffy snapped. "We can jump a couple of roofs and go down a fire escape. We'll find a place to hide for a little while." The dark slayer still looked confused. Buffy grabbed her wrist and began to run towards a near by building. "Let's go!"

After Wesley dealt with Weatherby, one of the watcher's counsel's thugs, in Angel's apartment, he and Angel rushed up to the roof top only to find that it was empty. The vampire and the former watcher franticly searched the entire roof but came up empty. "Do you think we're too late?" Wesley asked with worry.

Before Angel could respond Collins, another member of the watcher's counsel, burst through the door to the roof and began to open fire. Angel and Wesley rushed to take cover as they listened to a helicopter position itself above them. "Where is she vampire?" Collins yelled as he took a break from firing to make sure he was heard.

"Nope," Angel responded to Wesley's earlier question. "Looks like we're not too late." Just then Smithy, the last of the counsel members, began to fire from the helicopter giving Angel and Wes little room for cover.

"The helicopters close enough for me to reach," Angel began to explain to the former watcher. "Can you take the other guy?"

A look of determination appeared on Wesley's face. He nodded his head triumphantly. "He'll be distracted when you go out into the open. That's when I'll make my move."

Angel nodded his head. Then he looked around at his surroundings once more, listening to the constant gun fire before making his move. He ran out into the open and jumped as high as he could. Luckily it was just high enough to allow him to grab onto the bottom of the helicopter. He quickly reached up his hand and easily pulled Smithy out of the chopper and sent him flying.

Meanwhile as soon as Collins was distracted by Angel, Wesley rushed towards him and was able to knock him to the ground sending his gun flying in the process. He continued by repeatedly punching him across his jaw until he was unconscious.

After Angel had disposed of his man, he pulled himself up into the helicopter, vamped out, and then instructed the pilot to take them down. When the chopper was safely on the ground Angel met up with Wesley. "What now?" Wesley asked loudly so that he could be heard over the helicopter.

"I don't know where they would have gone but we have to find them," Angel answered. "Whatever it takes."

After some extensive running and looking around, Buffy and Faith were able to find an abandoned factory to hide out in. "This should do for a little while," Buffy said as they walked into the dark factory. "We'll hide out here until we can be sure we aren't being looked for."

Faith simply fallowed the blonde slayer into the factory in silence. She wasn't really sure why Buffy was helping her but she was glad for it, so she decided to keep her mouth shut. There was no telling what the watcher's council would do with a rouge slayer. Faith had decided long before she was even put into a coma that she would take jail over them any day. At least with jail she knew what was coming.

Inside the factory the slayers found that it was empty but slightly furnished. It was clear that on occasion homeless people most likely crashed there. There were a few rolled up sleeping bags, some empty food cans, an oil lamp and even an old, ratty looking futon in the far corner.

Buffy raised her eye brows in surprise that people actually lived like that. "Well…let's hope the people who live here won't be coming home any time soon."

Faith just nodded her head. She was still somewhat afraid to speak. She looked around the large room, walked to one of the walls and sat down with her back up against it. She took a long, deep breath and closed her eyes as she exhaled. She raised her hands to her face and rubbed it with exhaustion.

Buffy quickly moved to the oil lamp and found a book of matches sitting next to it. She figured out how to work the lamp and lit the fuse. The windows of the factory were all boarded up so it had been almost completely dark. The lamp made the large room much brighter then it was but it was still fairly hard to see.

Then Buffy took a deep breath as she tried to decide what to do next. The two of them couldn't just sit there for a few hours and not say a word to one another. There was too much that could be said. Too much that needed to be said.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence Buffy decided to speak. "Look Faith, if we're going to be stuck here with each other for a while I think there's some things that need to be said." When she knew that she had Faith's attention she slowly walked closer to her as she continued. Her ton changed as the frustrations from their previous conversation began to return. "There's some things that I wanna know, Faith. And I want these things that you're going to tell me to be completely honest." She paused for a moment and then continued. "You owe me that."

Faith slowly stood up and straightened herself out before responding. "Alright, B. What do you wanna know?" Buffy had a point. Faith owed her so much more then she could ever give after all that she'd done to her so she decided to play her little game.

The older slayer crossed her arms in front of her as she tried to contain her anger. "There's actually only really one thing that I wanna know," she responded. "Why? I wanna know why." She let that sit for a moment and then continued to explain. "I want to know why after everything I tried to do for you, every time I tried to help you, you still treated me like and enemy. I wanna know why you couldn't just put your bull shit aside and just let me help you instead of pushing me away. I wanna know why you felt like you needed to take everything away from me. Why, Faith? Why?"

Faith took a moment to think about how she wanted to respond. She knew the answer to Buffy's question. For a long time she hadn't but it all hit her after she'd switched back to her own body. It all started to make sense.

"Alright, B," she responded emotionlessly. "I'll be completely honest with you but you're really not gonna like what I have to say I'm warning you right now. And you're not gonna understand it either because I barely understand it myself."

Buffy just shrugged her shoulders. "Try me." She relaxed herself as she waited for Faith to explain.

The younger slayer shrugged her shoulders as well. "Alright, you asked." She paused for a moment as she tried to figure out where she should start. "Well of course I guess it all started with the whole crappy childhood thing. You know…mommy didn't love me, daddy wasn't around, that kind of thing. But I don't really like to make excuses like that cuz I like to believe that no matter how you were brought up you can still change. You make your own personality and beliefs and stuff yah know?"

Buffy was trying to fallow what Faith was saying but she wasn't really sure what she was trying to get at. Buffy thought that maybe the younger slayer was losing her mind but then she realized that she was probably just rambling because she couldn't figure out how to explain what she was really trying to say.

"Anyway," Faith continued. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I thought at first that my crappy childhood was the reason why I've done all the horrible things that I've done, and I'm sure that does have something to do with it, but that still didn't make complete sense. That doesn't explain why I put most of the hurt on you."

Now was when Buffy really began to pay attention. She could tell that Faith had a theory on why she'd hurt Buffy so much and the senior slayer was more then anxious to hear what that was.

Faith paused for a while before continuing. What she was about to say was going to be hard to get out and she was extremely scared as to how Buffy was going to react. She looked down for a moment feeling that she wasn't going to be able to look the other slayer in the eyes when she said what needed to be said.

"You see, B, there's somethin that I never told you before," the dark slayer continued. "Something that I never thought I would tell you but that I've been holding in for a long time now." Then she started to laugh a little. "It's actually pretty crazy but…" her ton changed back to serious, "If you want the truth."

She brought her eyes back up to meet Buffy's as she realized that she had to be looking at her to say this. "I'm in love with you, B."

The younger slayer searched Buffy's eyes for any reaction that she could find. She found none. The blonde slayer seemed to have become a statue at the sound of those words. She just stood there with an emotionless expression glued onto her face.

Faith decided to take this time try and explain. "I've loved you pretty much since the day I met you," she continued. "I tried to make it go away because I knew you'd never be able to feel the same way about me. That's why I couldn't be you're friend. I knew that if we were friends we would get closer but I'd never be able to get as close as I wanted and I didn't wanna go through that."

She waited for a moment to see if the other slayer had any reactions yet. When Faith realized that she still didn't, she continued. "I know you're probably wondering what this has to do with answering your original question…among other things." She thought for a moment on how she should explain. "I guess…I guess that since I knew I couldn't be with you, I decided it would be easier to hate you. After the accident with the deputy mayor…it made it easy to hate you. It made it easy to hate everyone. It made it easy to completely cut myself off. But I was so busy hating everyone else that I didn't have time to put the blame where it really belonged. I've hated a lot of people in my life but oddly enough…I've never hated myself…until now."

Buffy's face was finally starting to soften and it was finally becoming apparent that she was a real person and not just a statue. She was slowly coming out of her shock but she wasn't fully out yet.

"I pushed you away and I hurt you…because I love you," Faith tried to explain. "It doesn't make any sense but I guess it's like that old saying…you always hurt the one you love…or something like that." She ran her fingers through her hair and looked to the ground again. "I finally started to get it when we switched bodies. I was disgusted with myself for everything I'd done." Tears were now starting to well up in her eyes but she wouldn't let them be freed. "I don't know how much Angel or Giles told you but…I got hired to kill Angel. Truth is I never would have done it. I was just trying to get him to kill me." She let a small tear escape. "Because I'm not strong enough to do it myself."

And just like that Buffy awoke from her shocked state. Her heart melted at the site of the sobbing girl trying to hold back her tears. At that moment everything that Faith had done in the past, everything that she's put Buffy through just didn't seem to matter. Despite everything that had happened in their past all Buffy wanted to do was comfort her.

With a sad look on her face Buffy slowly walked over to Faith and gently whipped the fallen tear from her cheek. "Don't say that," she ordered firmly but in a soft, caring ton.

Faith was incredibly confused. This was not the reaction that she'd been expecting at all. After all she'd done to this girl and then she just had the nerve to tell her that the reason for all of it was because she loved her. Buffy had no reason for being this compassionate towards her. "Why not, B? It's what I deserve. I would have thought you of all people would want me dead."

This really began to frustrate Buffy. "God you really don't get it do you, Faith?" she asked heatedly. "Why do you think I tried so hard to be your friend? To help you? Why do you think that when you got out of your coma looking for vengeance I still wanted to try and help you and make things right between us? Why the hell do you think that after everything you've done to me I still let you go when our bodies got switched back?" Then her ton of voice began to calm a little as she finished. "Why do you think I'm here with you right now, helping you, after all you've done?"

The other slayer tried to put everything together that the blonde was telling her and make sense of it. She had a feeling about where this might be going but she couldn't believe it. There was no way it could be possible. She looked at the older slayer with confusion in her eyes. "What are you trying to say, B?"

Buffy opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She looked down to the ground as she tried to collect her thoughts and figure out exactly how she was going to say what she knew was time to make known. "I'm in love with you too, Faith. I have been for a long time."

Now Faith was the one in shock. Those were the last words in the entire universe that she would have ever expected to come out of Buffy's mouth in relation to her. After all she'd done, especially to her in general, there was no way in hell she deserved to be loved by the blonde slayer.

"I've never understood it," Buffy continued as tears now began to form in her own eyes. "I tried to fight it out but no matter what I did, no matter what _you_ did, it just didn't matter. I've loved you unconditionally pretty much since the day I met you. I had every reason to hate you, especially recently…but I couldn't. I never have. I never could."

Faith just shook her head slowly at Buffy's words. "I don't understand, B. After everything I've done to you. After the hell I put you through. How could you still love me? How could you _not_ hate me?"

She was so confused. She couldn't even allow herself to be happy that the one person she'd ever loved actually felt the same way about her. She wouldn't let herself rejoice about that because it wasn't right. She knew that she had put Buffy through too much. She didn't deserve her love.

The senior slayer thought for a moment on how she should respond to those questions. She wasn't really even a hundred percent sure herself on the answers so she had no idea how she was going to explain it to Faith. Finally, she thought of an example that might help her understand.

"To tell you the truth," she began, "I'm not even really a hundred percent sure why. I think…I think it's kind of like what happened with me and Angel though." She paused for a moment and then continued with her example. "After he…turned. I knew that it wasn't really him…but I still loved him. He did everything that he possibly could to hurt me but…I still loved him. I couldn't hate him. I couldn't kill him. I had no reason to…but I loved him."

"But he didn't have a soul then," Faith countered. "When I joined the mayor…when I killed people…I had a soul the whole time. When I hurt you…I knew exactly what I was doing. Everything I did to you…I did with a soul."

Buffy shook her head in disagreement. "But it wasn't really you," she responded calmly. "This…that I'm seeing right now. This is you…the real you. You've never really shown her to me before, but I can tell." The tears began welling up in Faith's eyes once again. "The person that did all those things last year, the person who hurt me, that was just a sad, scared girl who was unable to handle her feelings. I don't see that girl in you anymore."

Faith looked deep into Buffy's eyes. "Then you're not looking hard enough," she responded sadly. "She's still here. She's still sad, and she's still scared…and she still doesn't know what to do." Then she finally began to let her guard down and let the tears run free. "I don't know what to do, Buffy. I don't know what to do."

The older slayer immediately wrapped her arms around the sobbing girl compassionately. "Shh," she whispered into her ear, "It's going to be ok." She rocked the girl slightly and gently stroked her soft hair in an attempt to comfort her.


	2. Part Two

A/N: Here's the second and final installment of this short fic. I hope you all enjoy the rest! Also I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to make a break in the page. I never really realized it until now that the things that I usually use to show a break don't seem to be showing up. I've seen in other fics on this site that people use a line and I just can't figure out how to do it. So if someone could let me know that would be great because I'm sure it'll make reading my fics a lot easier as well lol. Thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed. You guys are great!

Part Two:

Faith continued to softly cry on Buffy's shoulders. She knew that this was wrong. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She didn't deserve Buffy's kindness. Even though she knew all of this, she couldn't bring herself to pull away. She was more content crying there in Buffy's arms then she'd ever been in her entire life.

After a while Faith was finally able to compose herself. She calmed herself down and slowly pulled away from Buffy, whipping the tears from her face as she did so. She was beginning to realize what she would have to do. It wouldn't be easy, but she knew it was for the best. She looked directly into the blonde slayer's eyes. "I think I've figured out what I have to do, B."

Buffy looked slightly confused. "What do you mean?"

"I have to turn myself in to the cops," Faith responded painfully. "It's the only way I can make things right."

Now it was Buffy's turn for returning tears. She shook her head as she tried not to let them fall. "No…no you can't do that," she insisted sternly.

"I have to, B," the dark slayer responded. "I've gotta try and make things right for once in my life."

"So what…you're just going to leave me?" the other slayer asked angrily. "After everything we just told each other. After everything we found out about each other. When we finally know that we both feel the same way about each other."

"What else can I do?" Faith asked defensively. "They're not gonna give up on trying to find me. You and I can never have a normal life together." She hated saying this, but she knew she was right. "You know that," she added sadly.

Buffy simply shook her head in denial. On some level she knew that Faith was right but she didn't want to believe it. Holding the slayer just seconds earlier was one of the most amazing feelings that she'd felt in a long time. She felt warm, safe, content, and even happy. She'd been holding on to her feelings for Faith for so long and now that she'd finally told her, and found out that she felt the same way, it was as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. She would give anything to make sure that feeling didn't go away.

"We can work this out, Faith," the slayer pleaded. "We can leave town. We'll go to…Canada, or Mexico, or something. We'll go far away where no one will find us."

Faith's heart melted at the offer. It was the most romantic gesture she'd ever been faced with…but she knew she couldn't accept. "Buffy…you know we can't do that. You have a life back in Sunnydale. You're the slayer. You have responsibilities. You have friends and family that love you…a boyfriend who loves you."

'Riley,' the blonde slayer thought to herself. She'd almost completely forgotten about him. She suddenly felt like a complete bitch. She was finally realizing that she was pretty much using Riley. She didn't love him. She probably never would. As long as Faith was in her life, she probably never could. "I'm not in love with him," she stated truthfully. "You know that."

The dark slayer rolled her eyes. "That's not the point," she responded with annoyance. Buffy had only paid attention to the last thing that she's mentioned. She didn't even think about all of the other reasons she's brought up.

Buffy could tell that she wasn't going to be able to change Faith's mind. She was a stubborn ass and there was no changing her mind without a good enough reason. She approached the dark haired girl once again and looked deep into her eyes. "Please, Faith…please don't decide this now. Can't we just take the night? Can't you just sleep on it?" She gave the other slayer her best sad puppy dog eyes as she continued. She reached for her hand and slowly laced her fingers with Faith's. "Can we please just…be together tonight? Please."

Faith looked down at her hand in Buffy's with slight confusion. Then she smiled and gently squeezed the other slayer's hand. How could she possibly say no to that? She'd been waiting for this moment, hoping and wishing for it for over a year now. She looked back into Buffy's eyes and slowly nodded her head. "Alright, B. I think I can do that."

The older slayer smiled brightly. She slowly moved in closer to Faith, and reached her free hand to gently caress her cheek. Faith tightly closed her eyes and leaned into the slayer's touch. Buffy's smile slowly faded and was replaced by a serious and almost even nervous look. She slowly moved in and gently pressed her lips against Faith's.

At that moment Faith felt her whole world melt away. Nothing else in the world mattered except that the two of them were together. Right then, it was all Faith cared about. She wrapped her arms around Buffy's waist and leaned in for another soft but passionate kiss.

Buffy kissed the younger slayer back opening her mouth invitingly. She never thought that anything could ever feel this good, this right. The kisses were perfect and she'd never felt so whole as she did standing there in Faith's arms. She felt lust for the woman but it was more then that. She felt kindness, compassion, caring, and love.

As things started to heat up Buffy began to slowly move backwards pulling Faith along with her, the whole time they're lips never parting. She continued to move back until she reached the old futon in the corner of the factory. It was very old and very disgusting but at that point the slayers didn't care. All that mattered was that they were together.

The senior slayer parted from Faith's lips. She grabbed her hand, sat down on the futon and looked into her eyes invitingly.

Faith accepted the invitation and climbed onto the futon. Buffy then laid down on the current substitute for a bed. The younger slayer positioned herself on top of the blonde and began kissing her passionately once again. She ran her fingers through the girl's soft blonde hair.

Buffy's body began to tighten in anticipation. She reached her arms securely around Faith's waist pulling her closer. She needed to be as close to the other slayer as possible. She needed to be touching her, to be holding her. She slowly began to move one of her hands down Faith's back. When she arrived at the bottom of her shirt she reached under it longing to caress her soft skin.

At that moment Faith froze. As badly as she waned this to happen, she knew it wasn't right. She quickly pulled away, rolled off of Buffy and placed her hands over her face as she lay next to the other slayer. "I can't do this."

The older slayer propped herself up on her shoulders and looked at Faith with confusion. She thought that everything had been going well. She was completely content, having no regrets as to where things were going between them. "I don't understand," she responded softly.

"This isn't how I want this to be," Faith began to explain. She pulled her hands away from her face and turn to look at Buffy. "I've been waiting for this for so long, Buffy. I don't want it to just be physical, a one night stand. You know me pretty well so you know how I am with the people I sleep with. You know my philosophy. 'Get some and get gone.' I don't want it to be that way with you."

Buffy simply smiled. She understood. As badly as she wanted Faith right now, what she wanted more was to be _with_ Faith. She could wait. "I understand," she responded sincerely.

Faith sent the slayer a small smile. She could tell that Buffy was telling the truth. She was ok with waiting. The younger slayer turned on her side to fully face Buffy. She reached her arm to the slayer and lightly brushed her hand over the soft skin of her forearm. "Can we please just lay here together?" she asked earnestly with gentle eyes. "Can you just hold me?"

The senior slayer didn't respond with words. Instead she slowly moved herself closer to the dark haired girl, brushed a lock of hair from her face and kissed the top of her head. Faith closed her eyes and let out of sigh of relief and ease at Buffy's response. Then the blonde slayer pulled Faith in close to her and held her tightly.

Faith burrowed herself into her slayer and wrapped her arms around her. She felt more at ease and content then she ever had in her life. She never wanted this moment to end. She was now beginning to realize just how tired she was. She hadn't gotten hardly any sleep in the past few days and it was finally catching up to her. After a few minutes of lying there in Buffy's arms her eyes began to close. Within moments she was fast asleep.

Buffy smiled as she looked down at the sleeping slayer in her arms. She gently kissed the top of her head once again and then closed her own eyes. She never wanted to let go of the sleeping beauty. She didn't want to fall asleep. She wanted this moment to last forever.

However, no matter how hard she tried to stay awake, the calming satisfaction quickly became a sedative and only minutes after Faith had fallen asleep, Buffy fallowed.

When Buffy first opened her eyes she was so exhausted that she nearly forgot where she was. The room was almost completely dark once again. When realization finally started to kick in the slayer realized that the oil lamp had probably gone out. The dark didn't bother her much though, she was used to it.

A giant yawn escaped her mouth as she turned around to check up on her slayer. When they'd gone to sleep they'd been face to face in each others arms but they must have moved while sleeping because when Buffy woke up she was turned facing the wall. When she turned around and attempted to wrap her arm around Faith she was extremely disturbed to find out that she was alone.

She immediately sat up and tried to look around as her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. "Faith?" she called out curiously. The slayer's worry increased when there was no response and no signs of movement at all.

The blonde quickly jumped off of the futon and rushed in the direction of the exit. When she got outside she realized that it was day. The sun was up and the moon was long gone. She looked around franticly growing more and more worried with every second. Her heart was beating so rapidly that she feared it would burst from her chest. "Faith?" she called out again.

There was no answer. All she could hear were the sounds of the busy city just a few blocks away. Not really knowing what else to do the slayer rushed back into the factory hoping that maybe she just wasn't able to see well enough. Maybe Faith really was still in there. Maybe she'd just gotten up and had to pee really badly and went looking for a bathroom. That was a very good possibility.

When she got inside she rushed to the lamp in hopes that the reason it had gone out was not because it was out of oil. Luckily the slayer finally caught a break. The lamp lit instantly and illuminated the large factory as it had the night before.

Buffy franticly searched the large room for any signs of the dark haired slayer. But once again…she found none. A sigh of defeat escaped her. She had no idea what to do next, where to look next. The only place she could think to look would be Angel's but she knew that there was no way Faith would leave without telling her.

Just as the blonde slayer was about to leave her eyes spotted something that she hadn't noticed before. There was an old, yellow piece of paper sitting on the dingy futon. As Buffy approached she knew that it must be a note from Faith. Her heart filled with anticipation as she picked up the note and began to read it.

_Dear B,_

_This is about the fifth note that I've written. I guess I just can't seem to express what I wanna say the right way. Hopefully this will be the winner though cuz there aren't very many of these old order forms left and my eye liner pencil really needs to be sharpened._

_Anyway, here goes. As soon as I'm done writing you this note I'm going to go to the LA police department and turn myself in. Last night you told me not to. You told me to sleep on it and think it over. Well I did. I would give anything to run away with you and be with you, but in the end I realized that it wouldn't be fair to you. I won't make you a fugitive, B. I've made lots of mistakes and now it's time for me to pay for them._

_I'm sorry that I didn't wake you and say good bye to you face to face but I was afraid that if I did that, I'd never be able to leave. If I would have looked into your eyes one more time I would never be able to bring myself to do what I know is right. It may not seem like it right now but deep down I know you know it's right too._

_Please don't be upset. I'm picturing you reading this note right now with tears in your eyes and it's killing me inside. I want you to know that I am glad that I stayed the night and didn't just go in right away. I have no regrets and I want you to know that last night was the best night of my life._

_It's a shame that we'll never know if things could have actually worked out between us, but in the end I know it's for the best. You deserve a better life then I could ever give you, B. But I do love you. I always have, and I always will._

_Love always,_

_Faith_

By the time Buffy had finished reading the note tears were running freely down her face. She hugged the note to her chest, closed her eyes and simply let the emotions flow from her body.

At this point Angel was more worried then he ever thought possible. He and Wesley had been out all night searching for Buffy and Faith and neither one had come up with anything even resembling good news. Now the sun had been up for a few hours and the longer it stayed in the sky the more frustrated the souled vampire became.

Wesley was still out searching but with the sun high up in the sky Angel felt helpless as there was little he could do but wait. Just moments later Wesley walked into the office with a beaten look on his face. "Anything?" Angel asked hopefully.

The former watcher merely shook his head in defeat. "Sorry Angel…still no sign of Buffy or Faith."

"Damn it!" Angel yelled as he punched the nearest wall in an attempt to release some of his anger. He should never have let this happen. He was responsible for Faith and now she and Buffy were no where to be found. He couldn't stop kicking himself for letting them out of his sight.

Wesley, noticing the inner turmoil going on inside of the vampire, tried his best to comfort him. "It's not you're fault you know. I'm sure they're both fine. They're probably hiding out somewhere thinking that the watcher's counsel's men are still after them."

Angel shook his head. "No. They would have been back by now. They would have contacted us."

"Not if they felt it wasn't safe," Wesley countered. "All I'm trying to say is that you should give them a little more time before you…"

"Buffy!" Angel yelled with relief cutting off what Wesley was about to say. "You're ok," he added as he rushed to the blonde slayer who had just walked into his office.

"Yeah," Buffy responded emotionlessly with a small head nod. "I'm fine."

"Where's Faith?" Wesley asked.

The slayer looked to the ground sadly. "Jail," was the only word she was able to get out.

Angel grimaced. "They caught her?"

Buffy shook her head slowly. "No." Then she was able to bring her eyes back up to look into Angel's. "She turned herself in."

A look of shock appeared on Angel's face. He had always believed that Faith would make it, that she would reform herself no matter how hard it would be, but he hadn't seen this coming. From the state that she was in just the day before his main concern was that she'd run. He never thought she would turn herself in.

"We found a place to hide for the night, fell asleep, and when I woke up…she was gone," Buffy continued.

"How do you know that she turned herself in then?" Wesley asked with confusion.

Buffy nearly broke into tears once again as she thought back on the note. "She left me a note. She told me that she was sorry and that this was what she had to do. She said it was for the best."

"It's not going to be easy," Angel started, "But I think she may be right. Faith is an extremely strong girl and I know she'll get through it. She'll do whatever she has to do to make things right."

As Faith sat inside her cell she thought about the decision she'd made and if it was the right one. Deep down she knew that it was for the best but she just couldn't seem to shake that nagging feeling that she'd just given up her chance at true happiness. It had taken more strength then she ever thought possible to leave Buffy in that factory. Even now she wasn't sure how she was able to go through with it.

The dark haired slayer reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small wallet sized picture of a familiar blonde slayer. She'd taken the picture the night that she and Buffy had switched bodies at the senior slayer's house before she'd arrived. She looked down at the picture and smiled.

"Who knows, B," she said softly to herself, "Maybe one day we'll get another chance."


End file.
